System and method for locating a selected number and displaying the number as it appears in a document containing the number

ABSTRACT

The disclosure describes a system and method for locating a number in a source document by presenting and manipulating data on private and public companies. A central database of financial information is established. A target entity is entered within the central database by a user, and financial information of the target entity from the central database is displayed. Once a number within the display of financial information is selected, the system and method determines which document is the source document containing the numbers, searches through the source document for the number, identifies the location of the number in the source document and highlights and displays the number as it appears in the source document to the user.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application claiming priority under35 U.S.C. §120 of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/837,991, filed Jul. 16,2010, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/407,999,filed Apr. 21, 2006, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,761,482, which is acontinuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/157,582, filed May 29,2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,089,229, the respective contents of which arehereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The display of financial information by data providers to local usersthrough web-based applications is well-known and commonplace in thefinance industries. In addition to the display of financial numbers on agraphical user interface, existing technology provides users with theopportunity of viewing how a specific number is derived. This isaccomplished by allowing the user to click on or select any number usinga pointing device such as a mouse. Once a chosen number having ahyperlink is clicked on, a window appears that shows the componentnumbers used to calculate the chosen number, and the method used, suchas the addition, subtraction, multiplication, etc., of the componentnumbers.

A highly desired system and method shows a user where the chosen numberthat was clicked on appears within a financial document. However,current methods accomplish this through the tedious and time-consumingmethod of manual “tagging.” This process consists of endless hours ofsearching through thousands of documents to locate the number within asource document and then tagging the actual source of the numbers. Whena search is conducted, only the tagged numbers that conform to thesearch request are identified.

The system and method for locating a number in a document avoids themanual “tagging” of source documents. The invention achieves the goal offinding a specific number in a source document quickly and efficiently,unlike any other method previously employed. It utilizes a centraldatabase of information and presents the desired financial numbers tothe user within minutes. Once a specific number is clicked on, theinvention rapidly searches for the source document containing the numberand presents the source document containing the specific number to theuser. It achieves this through the use of a computer code and basicalgorithms.

The present invention tracks the thinking process of investment bankersregarding financial numbers, and allows a banker to review thereliability of financial information by tracing a number back to itsoriginal source. The process of confirming financials that may havetaken a banker hours and hours to complete may now be achieved in justminutes.

The invention is currently offered in an ASP model (via the Internet)and is bundled with the central database provider's platform. It couldeasily be provided as a “behind the firewall” software solution, as astand-alone product or it may be bundled with other services.

SUMMARY

It is a goal of the present invention to provide a quick and easy systemand method for individuals such as investment bankers to locate numbersin financial documents. The invention accomplishes this by presentingand manipulating data on private and public companies. This dataincludes financial information on public companies. The first stepinvolves identifying the document that will contain a specific chosennumber. Once the source document is identified, the invention searchesthrough the source document to locate and identify the specific number.Since a number is not always represented in a single form, the inventiontakes into consideration all of the different ways a number may berepresented in a document.

When a user views a particular public company's financial informationwithin a platform, the user can click on any of the financial numbers(such as dollar values, ratios and multiples) that are initiallypresented, or target numbers or component numbers presented after theinitially presented number is clicked-on. The invention searches for thedocument which could contain the number, target number or componentnumber that the user has clicked on. Once it finds that document, itlocates the number, target number or component number and presents it tothe user as it appears in the document.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a window showing a financial profile for a targetentity;

FIG. 2 illustrates a window showing component numbers used to calculatea number listed in the profile shown in the window illustrated in FIG.1;

FIG. 3 illustrates a window showing first component numbers used tocalculate a number listed in the profile shown in the window illustratedin FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 illustrates a window showing second component numbers used tocalculate a first component number listed in the window illustrated inFIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 illustrates a window showing third component numbers used tocalculate a second component number listed in the window illustrated inFIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

According to one preferred embodiment of the present invention, there isprovided a method for locating a number in a document. The presentinvention searches through a database comprising a collection offinancial information and documents until it locates the document thatcontains a specified number, and it then presents the highlighted numberas it appears in the document to the user.

A central database of a plurality of data on public and privatecompanies is initially established. Such data includes, withoutlimitation, a robust collection of financial information on publiccompanies. This financial information includes financial categories thatare well known in the art, such as a company's Net Debt, Revenue, EBIDTA(earnings before interest, depreciation, taxes and interest), EBIT(earnings before interest and taxes), EPS (earnings per share) and BookValue. (See FIG. 1) This central database is constantly maintained by ahost entity. This involves maintaining the central database on computerservers at a secure hosting facility, such as Qwest or Globix.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, a user initially enters atarget entity within the central database through the user interface,and is provided with that target entity's company profile. When a userwishes to obtain a quick comparative financial analysis of the targetentity and all of its competitors, the user clicks on a “Quick Comps”hyperlink. The user may then click on any of the presented financialnumbers containing a hyperlink for the target entity or any of itscompeting companies, such as a competing company's Revenue.

When a number is clicked on by the user, the invention searches throughthe database of financial documents to locate the document whichcontains that clicked-on number. This document is referred to as the“source document.” The source document may be a press release, an SECfiling including, but not limited to, a 10K or 10Q filing, or any otherrelevant filing. The system and method accomplishes this by searchingfor a source document that has a date that falls within a certainpredetermined date range. The range is determined by the host entity orthe computer programmer. This date range is a time period surroundingthe target's or competing company's filing date for the source documentcontaining the clicked-on number. This predetermined date range mayextend before and after an entity's filing date, only before an entity'sfiling date, or only after an entity's filing date.

In another preferred embodiment, the invention searches for filings thathave a date that falls within thirty days of the end of the three monthquarter for which the source document containing the particular numberis filed by the target entity or competing company. The invention thenselects the most recent of these filings as the source document.

Once the source document containing the clicked-on number is identified,the invention searches through the source document to pinpoint its exactlocation through the use of a simple algorithm. The algorithm performs a“find” functionality which is well known in the art. The invention firstattempts to locate the number in its exact form, or the identical formpresented to the user. For example, if the clicked on number is 5million dollars, it searches for it as “$5,000,000.” The difficulty inpinpointing the exact number stems from the fact that a number may bepresented in various ways. As such, the number $5,000,000 can berepresented as 5,000 (number in thousands), as 5.0 (number in millions)or 5.000.000 (number in European format). If the invention cannot locate$5,000,000, it creates alternative number representations for thatnumber such as 5,000,000, 5,000, 5.0 and 5.000.000. Thus, if it does notlocate $5,000,000, it searches for 5,000,000. If it does not locate5,000,000, it searches for 5,000. It continues to search through all thedifferent alternative representations until a match is found. The numberis then highlighted and displayed to the user, as it appears in thesource document.

When the invention fails to locate a source document containing theclicked-on number or clicked-on target number (a target number is anyother number that presents itself to the user after the initial numberis clicked), it creates a series of alternative number representationsfor that number or target number. These alternative numberrepresentations include but are not limited to numerical digitsrepresenting billions, millions, thousands, hundreds, numbers with orwithout a “$” sign, numbers with or without commas between the digits,numbers with or without periods between the digits, and numbers with orwithout spaces before and/or after the number. In a preferredembodiment, these representations are created by the host entity or bycomputer programmers. A specific ranking is assigned to thesealternative number representations, and the invention follows thischosen hierarchy. For example, the invention might be programmed tosearch for a number in the thousands first, in the millions second, withcommas third, without commas fourth, with a “$” sign fifth and without a“$” sign sixth. Any amount of alternative number representations may becreated, in any order.

In another preferred embodiment, when a number is clicked on by a user,a window appears showing how the number was calculated. This is incontrast to the commencement of an immediate search for the clicked-onnumber when no window shows itself or pops up. The window displays the“component numbers” used to calculate the clicked-on number. Forexample, if the clicked-on number was C, then the window would showA+B=C. A and B would be the component numbers that were added to get C.The calculations include, but are not limited to addition, subtractionand multiplication of component numbers. Moreover, component numbers arenot limited in amount. There may be two, three, four, etc. componentnumbers.

By way of example, if the user clicks on the “Net Debt” number X (seeFIG. 1) for a company, a window appears, as shown in FIG. 2, which showsthat the Net Debt was calculated by subtracting the company's “Cash andEquivalents” (number Y) from its “Debt” (number Z). Thus, the windowwould show that the first component numbers Y and Z were subtracted toget the number X.

In another preferred embodiment, a window appears more than once. If thenumber D (as shown in FIG. 1) was clicked on by the user, a windowshowing E+F=D would appear (See FIG. 3). If the user clicked on one ofthe first component numbers, E or F, a second window could appearshowing how E or F, respectively, were calculated. For example, thewindow would show G+H=E if the number E was clicked on, G and H would bethe second component numbers that were added to get E (See FIG. 4). Ifthe user clicked on one of the second component numbers, G or H, a thirdwindow could appear showing how G or H, respectively, were calculated.For example, the window would show I+J=G if the number G were clicked on(See FIG. 5).

In a preferred embodiment, all of the component numbers (first, second,third, etc.), including the calculations involving the component numberscould be displayed in a single window. A single window would thus show,in a flow-chart or tree-like fashion, a path beginning with the firstnumber clicked on by the user up to the final component number.

The invention continues to provide the user with windows displayingcomponent numbers until it reaches a point where a final componentnumber stands alone. The first step of this system and method isdetermining which document is the one that contains that final componentnumber (which maybe the first, second, third, etc. component number). Itdoes this by searching for the source documents (an SEC 10K or 10Qfiling, press release, or any other document that may contain thecomponent number entered in or accessible in the database) that havedates that fall within a predetermined date range surrounding acompany's filing date for the source document containing the componentnumber. If more than one source document is found, the invention uses asimple algorithm that is well known in the art to select the documentwith the most recent date (or the most recent filing date).

The second step involves locating the exact number in the sourcedocument. If the source document containing the exact number as it ispresented to the user is found, it is highlighted and presented to theuser as it appears in the source document. If the exact number is notfound, the invention creates a series of alternative numberrepresentations. It then proceeds to go through the series ofalternative number representations in a predetermined hierarchicalfashion until a representation is found. It then highlights the numberrepresentation and presents it to the user as it appears in the sourcedocument.

In another preferred embodiment of the invention, all of the alternativenumber representations are highlighted and presented to the user as theyappear in their respective documents. The user may then view all of thehighlighted numbers and determine which are the most useful and/orappropriate.

1. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a process comprising the steps of: (a) receiving a user selection of a target entity about which the user wishes to view financial information; (b) retrieving financial information of the target entity from a computer-stored database of financial information; (c) displaying the retrieved financial information of the target entity; (d) receiving a user selection of a number within the displayed financial information; (e) searching through a source document within the database to locate the selected number within the source document; and (f) displaying a portion of the source document containing the selected number.
 2. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a process comprising the steps of: (a) receiving a user selection of a target entity about which the user wishes to view financial information; (b) retrieving financial information of the target entity from a computer-stored database of financial information; (c) displaying the retrieved financial information of the target entity; (d) receiving a user selection of a number within the displayed financial information; (e) retrieving from the database one or more component numbers used to calculate the selected number, and displaying the component numbers; (f) receiving a user selection of one of the component numbers; (g) repeating steps (e) and (f) until the number selected by the user is a number contained in a source document and not calculated from two or more component numbers; (h) searching through a source document within the database to locate the selected number within the source document; and (i) displaying a portion of the source document containing the selected number.
 3. The computer-readable medium of either of claim 1 or 2, having stored thereon instructions for performing the step of searching through the database to locate a source document containing the selected number which, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to: generating one or more alternative number representations for the selected number when no source document containing the selected number is found; searching through the database to locate a source document containing at least one of the alternative number representations; and stopping the search when a source document containing a one of the alternative number representations is located.
 4. The computer-readable medium of either of claim 1 or 2, wherein the source document has a date that is closest to the end of the 3-month quarter in which the selected number is reported by the target entity.
 5. The computer-readable medium of either of claim 1 or 2, wherein the source document that has a date that falls within a predetermined specified date range.
 6. The computer-readable medium of either of claim 1 or 2, wherein the source document has a date that falls within at least one of the following date ranges: (a) a time period extending before and after the target entity's filing date for the source document containing the selected number, (b) a time period extending before the target entity's filing date for the source document containing the selected number; and (c) a time period extending after the target entity's filing date for the source document containing the selected number.
 7. The computer-readable medium of either of claim 1 or 2, wherein the financial information comprises financial numbers including dollar values, ratios and multiples.
 8. The computer-readable medium of either of claim 1 or 2, wherein the financial information comprises financial numbers including Net Debt, Revenue, EBIDTA, EBIT, EPS and Book Value.
 9. The computer-readable medium of claim 3, (a) wherein the alternative number representations comprise numerical digits representing units of money; (b) wherein at least one of the alternative number representations includes a unit of money symbol; (c) wherein at least one of the alternative number representations includes at least one comma between digits; (d) wherein at least one of the alternative number representations includes at least one period between digits; and (e) wherein at least one of the alternative number representations includes at least one space between digits.
 10. The computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein a specific ranking is assigned to the alternative number representations, and searches for the alternative number representations follow the assigned ranking
 11. A computer-implemented method for locating and displaying a number in a source document comprising the steps of: (a) storing a database of financial information; (b) receiving a user selection entered on a computer of a target entity about which the user wishes to view financial information; (c) retrieving financial information of the target entity from the database of financial information; (d) displaying the retrieved financial information of the target entity; (e) receiving a user selection entered on a computer of a number within the displayed financial information; (f) searching through a source document within the database to locate the selected number within the source document; and (g) displaying a portion of the source document containing the selected number.
 12. A computer-implemented method for locating and displaying a number in a source document comprising the steps of: (a) storing a database of financial information; (b) receiving a user selection entered on a computer of a target entity about which the user wishes to view financial information; (c) retrieving financial information of the target entity from the database of financial information; (d) displaying the retrieved financial information of the target entity; (e) receiving a user selection entered on a computer of a number within the displayed financial information; (f) retrieving from the database one or more component numbers used to calculate the selected number, and displaying the component numbers; (g) receiving a user selection entered on a computer of one of the component numbers; (h) repeating steps (f) and (g) until the number selected by the user is a number contained in a source document and not calculated from two or more component numbers; (i) searching through a source document within the database to locate the selected number within the source document; and (j) displaying a portion of the source document containing the selected number.
 13. The computer-implemented method of either of claim 11 or 12, wherein the step of searching through the database to locate a source document containing the selected number comprises: generating one or more alternative number representations for the selected number when no source document containing the selected number is found; searching through the database to locate a source document containing at least one of the alternative number representations; and stopping the search when a source document containing a one of the alternative number representations is located.
 14. The computer-implemented method of either of claim 11 or 12, wherein the source document has a date that is closest to the end of the 3-month quarter in which the selected number is reported by the target entity.
 15. The computer-implemented method of either of claim 11 or 12, wherein the source document has a date that falls within a predetermined specified date range.
 16. The computer-implemented method of either of claim 11 or 12, wherein the source document has a date that falls within at least one of the following date ranges: (a) a time period extending before and after the target entity's filing date for the source document containing the selected number, (b) a time period extending before the target entity's filing date for the source document containing the selected number; and (c) a time period extending after the target entity's filing date for the source document containing the selected number.
 17. The computer-implemented method of either of claim 11 or 12, wherein the financial information comprises financial numbers including dollar values, ratios and multiples.
 18. The computer-implemented method of either of claim 11 or 12, wherein the financial information comprises financial numbers including Net Debt, Revenue, EBIDTA, EBIT, EPS and Book Value.
 19. The computer-implemented method of claim 13: (a) wherein the alternative number representations comprise numerical digits representing units of money; (b) wherein at least one of the alternative number representations includes a unit of money symbol; (c) wherein at least one of the alternative number representations includes at least one comma between digits; (d) wherein at least one of the alternative number representations includes at least one period between digits; and (e) wherein at least one of the alternative number representations includes at least one space between digits.
 20. The computer-implemented method of claim 19, wherein a specific ranking is assigned to the alternative number representations, and searches for the alternative number representations follow the assigned ranking. 